In the era of social media, the audience itself has a big say in how big the audience is. If you’d like FAIR’s messages to reach more people, there’s a number of simple things you can do to help.
1. Comment on the blog. A lively comment section draws readers to a blog. If you want an interesting conversation about media criticism, post the kinds of comments you think are interesting.
2. E-mail links to your friends. The simplest way to share content on the Internet–just copy and paste the url and send it to interested parties.
3. Post links on Facebook. Sharing sources of information with your friends is one of the key functions of the leading social networking site. If you click on the “Share” link at the bottom of each blog post, there’s a Facebook button that should streamline the sharing process. But copying and pasting the link works just as well. Of course, if you and your friends are on other social networking sites, those can spread the word too.
4. Recommend us on bookmarking sites. One of the most helpful things you can do in terms of bringing new people to the blog is putting our posts on social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, reddit, Delicious and Digg. These are sites people go to to find and rank places they haven’t been to before on the Web, and if a page does well there, it can attract thousands of new visitors. StumbleUpon seems to work best for us, but if there’s one you’re familiar with, that’s probably the best one for you to use. The “Share” button will take you to a few of these sites–they generally require you to open an account with them to participate.
5. Blog about us. If you have a blog of your own, feel free to recommend our posts, expand upon our points or criticize our takes. In most cases, our blog will find your post and add a link to it to the comments section of ours. If that doesn’t happen, please leave a url in the comments section. You can also include links to our posts in the comments sections of other blogs if we make an appropriate point.
6. Tweet about us. Aside from reviving the art of the aphorism, the main point of Twitter is to swap links people find interesting. Again, you have to set up an account to join in. To fit the link into the 140-character limit, you’re probably going to want to use a link-shortener, like bit.ly or TinyURL. If you’re already on Twitter, please follow FAIR at @FAIRmediawatch–most FAIR Blog posts get tweeted there, and you can retweet any that strike your fancy.
There are no doubt FAIR Blog readers who know things we don’t about social media. If you have any further tips–for readers or for us–please leave them in comments.
I always love posting your news stuff on my Facebook page.
Keep up the good work!
Dear FAIR–I’ve searched for you several times on Twitter, and was unable to find you (search FAIR or Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting if you don’t believe me). You might want to look into making yourself easier to find (I don’t know how to do this).
Definitely install the ‘follow us on twitter’ button on your website. There is probably a way to get it to appear at the bottom of all web pages, but at least make sure it is visible on the front page and this blog.
Update your blog regularly. When you go a few days without updating, you lose a lot of potential regular viewers. At least once a day, Monday through Friday. Certainly there is more than enough material out there for you to work with.
Have you considered an ad on Facebook? I know, advertising–yech! But you can target the ad very easily. Everyone who likes Noam Chomsky or Naomi Klein, for example. Or, if you want to reach some of the not-entirely converted, everyone who likes Jon Stewart. Their ads are inexpensive and you are only charged up to the amount you state, based on the success of the ad.
Those are all my suggestions for now. Glad to finally be following you on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter/like me on facebook at lefteyeonbooks.
Those are good suggestions. I’ve just changed our Twitter profile so it includes our full name spelled out–you’re right, that should make us far easier to search for.
Thanks for the info. It’s great to have an alternative to the corporate media machine!
FAIR that’s a two way street. You can support us too.
I just discovered this blog but I think I used to receive your magazine in the 1990’s. Really enjoyed it and this looks good also. Looking forward to posting comments and sharing on facebook.
One concern about social media: I hope FAIR keeps all the goods (good reporting, good analysis of others’ reporting, and good expression of journalistic standards) on an easily accessible website, which does not require any kind of registration to access the content.
Efficiency, privacy, “sunshine”, and public access are all best served by a presence in the free, world-wide, open-source and hopefully neutral webosphere. As a teacher, I want students to be able to get to information quickly, easily, and with no fear of being tracked or sold or spied on. And I love the ease with which your pages open from my pages’ links.
Also, I hope the “friending” and “following” doesn’t trap FAIR into biased groupings, thereby confirming some people’s suspicions that every media entity is using rhetoric simply to add heft to “one side or the other”. Political neutrality (not false equivalence) is mandatory for progress among thinking people, including many on the so-called right and left, as well as many Tea-Party people.
This article was a terrific idea. i hope everyone follows these tips. Collectively we can help raise FAIR’s online visibility.
Also, it’s such an excellent summary of basic social media to-do’s, I’ve sent it as a reminder to a business buddy of mine to help us improve our new online venture. If we can generate more discretionary income, it will ultimately mean more funds available for donations including, of course, to FAIR. What goes around, comes around.
I’ve sent links from FAIR’s online stuff to friends before, and will continue to do so. I’ve been reading the magazine for a long time now; it’s needed now more than ever. (I subscribe to a half-dozen magazines, and FAIR is the only one I read cover to cover immediately.)